The Cold War in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and Iran is coming to a head. So far carried out with the help of proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere, it’s in danger of turning into a military confrontation between the two regional powers. Read Here – RealClearWorld
It’s a story about the tail that wagged the dog that didn’t bark that isn’t in Kansas anymore. The dog that didn’t bark is commodity prices, and the tail that wagged is the Chinese yuan. Read Here – Asia Times
When Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule two decades ago, the city was seen as a model of what China might one day become: prosperous, modern, international, with the broad protections of the rule of law…Yet as the 20th anniversary of the handover approaches on Saturday, that perception of Hong Kong as something special — a vibrant crossroads of […]
As it turned out, Indian wonks needn’t have worried. Modi enveloped Donald Trump in a bear hug — something he tends to do — and whatever the American president may have thought of that, the bilateral relationship has clearly benefited from growing U.S. disillusionment with Asia’s other giant, China. The question for Modi isn’t whether he […]
When a ransomware outbreak exploded from Ukraine across Europe yesterday, disrupting companies, government agencies, and critical infrastructure, it at first appeared to be just another profit-focused cybercriminal scheme—albeit a particularly vicious and damaging one. But its origins in Ukraine raised deeper questions. After all, shadowy hackers have waged a cyberwar there for years, likely at […]
Sandwiched between Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, it seems almost miraculous that Iran hasn’t suffered a major act of domestic terrorism in over 15 years. But that changed on June 7 when twin attacks in Tehran left 17 dead and around 50 injured. The Islamic State swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack, and the Iranian security apparatus […]
Islam can’t be reduced to a single sacred book, frozen in time. It’s a dynamic and complex tradition that was continually revised and re-revised over many lifetimes, and even within a single lifetime. You might even say that the history of Islam is a history in which Muslims are always reconsidering how the many layers […]
Although he has only been in office a few months, Donald Trump’s presidency has had a major impact on how the world sees the United States. Trump and many of his key policies are broadly unpopular around the globe, and ratings for the U.S. have declined steeply in many nations. According to a new Pew […]
President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, two nationalist leaders with a shared passion for social media, met on Monday as India sought to vie with China for Mr. Trump’s favour in the region. Mr. Trump lavished praise on Mr. Modi, calling him a “true friend” with ambitious plans to fight corruption and […]
Modi’s White House trip takes place under very different circumstances from his first visit as prime minister in 2014 after a contentious 10-year visa ban. Then, in the presence of many elected American officials, Modi put on a grand show of strength at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The pageantry of his official introduction to […]
